The invention relates to a high current conduit system for electrical furnaces, the system comprising at least one liquid cooled, essentially horizontal electrode supporting arm formed of a closed hollow profile and serving as a current conductor.
In the prior art electrical furnaces, the high current lines are generally arranged in the region of the electrode supporting arms above and parallel to these arms. Because of the heat generated by the induced currents, the supporting arm, which is made of steel or a nonmagnetic material, is usually water-cooled as are the copper pipes. Such a system is expensive to install and operate. It has therefore been proposed to utilize the supporting arm as a current conductor and to surround it for this purpose with a sleeve of a material having good conductivity (DE-OS No. 1,565,382). Such a supporting arm is then provided, at the furnace end, with known electrode clamps which hold the electrodes and which must be loosened when the electrodes are adjusted. These electrode clamps are a significant weak point in a current conduit system because it is difficult to simultaneously realize with them good current transfer without damaging the electrode. Moreover, the frequent resetting of the electrodes requires undesirably long interruptions of operation.